Rosa Parks/OutKast lawsuit to go ahead

The US Supreme Court refused yesterday to intervene in a lawsuit over the hit song Rosa Parks by the Grammy-winning rap group OutKast.

The action, taken without comment from the judges, means the 90-year-old civil rights’ figure can go ahead with her lawsuit against the band.

The 1998 song is about the entertainment industry and its lyrics do not refer to Parks by name. The chorus of the song goes, “Ah-ha, hush that fuss. Everybody move to the back of the bus.”

Parks claimed that OutKast violated her publicity and trademark rights and defamed her.

The case will now return to a lower federal court judge.

Parks made history in December 1955 when she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus. Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system by blacks and led to court rulings desegregating public transportation nationwide.